State Should Mandate Rabies Shots, Gurian Says

January 04, 1986|by JILL WENDLING, The Morning Call

Allentown Health Bureau Director Gary Gurian said he was shocked a few years ago when he discovered that Pennsylvania is the only state in the continental United States that doesn't have a law requiring rabies immunization for dogs.

"It's highly desirable for this state to enter the 20th century and for the state legislators to pass a law requiring immunization for dogs and preferably cats," Gurian said.

And that legislative inaction could have contributed to the state's soaring rabies cases in 1985. The state Department of Health recorded 450 confirmed cases for last year. The 1985 figure trails the 1946 record number of 499 cases.

Dr. Ernest Witte, the state's director of epidemiology, said another large number of cases may occur in 1986, if infected wildlife move north from Maryland.

Through Dec. 14, Maryland had recorded 643 cases, the most in the nation, the department said. Pennsylvania was ranked fourth, behind Texas, which had 573 cases, and California, which had 543, the department said.

The heaviest concentrations of Pennsylvania cases occurred in south- central areas. Cumberland County, west of Harrisburg, recorded 105 cases, followed by Adams County with 84, York County with 66 and Perry County with 50 cases.

The disease was detected in 13 different animal species. Raccoons accounted for 286 cases, skunks 82 and bats 45, the department said. Gurian said the three are considered high-risk carriers of the virus.

Allentown and Lehigh County each reported one rabies case last year, which Gurian said is not an unusually high or low number. Both cases involved bats.

And while the state doesn't have a law requiring immunization, Allentown is one of few cities in the commonwealth that does. In 1981, the Allentown City Council passed an ordinance requiring residents to immunize their dogs. The ordinance was amended in 1984 to include cats.

Gurian said that Allegheny County is only other area in the state that he knows of that also requires immunizations.

"We've never had a problem here in Allentown in terms of domestic or wild animals having rabies. It (the ordinance) is a preventative measure to ensure if the rabies virus is introduced in the area, there's some protection for domestic animals and humans," he said.

However, the state lawmakers apparently do not feel as strongly about the issue as Gurian does.

According to him, a bill regarding rabies control has died in the Legislature for the fourth straight year. Gurian said the latest statute, House Bill 558, had been stalled in the House's appropriations committee since April 30. However, the bill would have required immunizations in dogs and cats only in areas of the state determined to be high risk by the secretary of health.

Gurian considers the bill "extremely poor public health practice."

"It's like only requiring children to be immunized against measles, rubella or mumps in parts of the state where cases are currently occurring," he said. "The scope of House Bill 558 dictates that the state government react to the problem rather than acting on or preventing a health problem from occurring. There lies the difference between responsible and responsive government."

Gurian said an inadequacy of the bill is that even areas that aren't considered high risk still have rabies. He referred to the 1984 case of a Lycoming County boy who was the first human in 32 years to die from the virus.

"Animal rabies was not reported in Lycoming County prior to his death," he said. "Following the logic of this bill, Lycoming wouldn't have been considered a high-risk area."

Even though the epidemic outbreak is currently centered in south-central Pennsylvania, Gurian warns that the virus is probably in this area even though only two cases were reported.

"I think there is rabies in Lehigh County," he said. "Wild animals aren't confined by boundaries and the epidemic has been moving this way slowly. I strongly suspect there's some rabies in wild animals in Lehigh County."

While Gurian stands firm behind Allentown's ordinance, neither Bethlehem or Easton has a law requiring rabies immunization. City officials say they are hesitant to enact legislation because they see enforcement as the major stumbling block. They agree that the best way for the law to be enforced is to require proof of immunization when dog owners apply for dog licenses. However, the licensing is done through the county and that's where the problem arises.

"If the state passed a statute and said in order to get a cat or dog licensed you have to show proof of vaccination, then it'd be easy to be enforced by the county office," said Pat Vulcano Jr., Easton City Council president. "If we put something on the books, we should be able to enforce it."

Glen Cooper, director of the Bethlehem Health Bureau, also expressed the same sentiments. "It looks great in the press, but are you actually going to enforce it?" he asked. "If not, you shouldn't be letting people think that you are."